waterproof seal on housing

ok i just got my housing for my camera, and in the booklet that came with it, its says something very general about greasing it. It does not say when or with what. any help would be great

You want to use silicone grease to grease the o-rings after you have cleaned them. Preferably silicone grease supplied from the manufacturer (not all silicone greases are the same). As well, you do not want to apply too much grease as that can create problems as well. I use just a tiny dab on my o-rings for my Oly PT-015.

justinbaker:

ok i just got my housing for my camera, and in the booklet that came with it, its says something very general about greasing it. It does not say when or with what. any help would be great

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Be very careful here in understanding what a company means by "silicone grease". For example, Olympus supplies and sells tiny tubes of "Silicone Grease" for use on the main housing O-ring which is made of silicone rubber. What this translates to is that their grease is for use on silicone O-rings, not that it is actually pure silicone grease. I can tell you from experience that using pure silicone grease, like the type sold in dive shops, on silicone O-rings will break them down and stretch them out. The two are not compatible.

Olympus should have worded the label differently on the grease so as not to be confusing.

Use the grease that is supplied by the housing manufacturer.

You should do it before every day of diving.
Take the o-ring out taking care not to nick either it or the groove, and then clean out the groove and sealing surface of any sand, hair or any other foreign material. Run the o-ring in your fingers to do the same. Then apply a teeny bit of manufacturer supplied grease onto your fingers and again run the o-ring through your fingers. The o-ring should just be shiny, with no excess grease on it.

The reason for greasing the o-ring is to make sure that it slides freely inside the groove to respond smoothly to the pressure and form a seal. If there is too much grease, then it will attract sand and create a mess and possibly also compromise the seal.

Or........don't grease it at all. Water works fine as a lubricant for the silicone o-rings on the back of the housing. Keep them very clean. Remove if necessary, otherwise leave them alone.